Monday 31st January 1966

Born on this day, Jyrki Jarvilehto, Finish racer. Jykri shortened his name to J J Lehto early in his career, which proved useful when he won the 1988 British F3 championship making it easier for a number of F1 bosses to write down his name in their notebooks. Debuting in 1989 he lined up to a total of 62 total F1 starts, his best result being a 3rd place at the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola. After being involved in the start crash at the same event three years later and suffering a back injury, JJ seemed to have lost the edge. He was happy to move away from F1 to the German DTM series and winning the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans in McLaren F1 GTR is considered to be the most memorable moment of his career. Ten years later heíd be part of the history-making trio Kristensen/Werner/Lehto that pushed the Champion Racing Audi R8 in the 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans to the first overall victory for privateer victory since 1967. He continues racing in the Le Mans Series and, when his schedule allows, is an F1-commentator for Finnish TV.